Nice to meet you!

[sourland]

Good morning, and welcome to BYC. I, too, suggest an absolute minimum of 3. That way if something happens to one two remain as company for one another.

 

[higginj]

If you are in Santa Fe, NM I would be more concerned with heat tolerance vs cold. Also do a proper assessment of how you plan to manage your flock, do you want them free ranging or cooped. https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/chicken-chart has a great introduction to chickeneering. I wouldn't do 2 but 3 or more the low one on the totem pole will get much abuse. Even with 5 in my current flock my low gal gets her tail feathers pulled.

I do recommend visiting the link above and downloading their pick a chicken chart to consider your actual needs.

Wow, good points! In Santa Fe it doesn't really get past 95 degrees maybe for a week or two tops. In general, the summertime is rainy season, so keeping it dry might be a bigger concern. Our winter isn't severe, but it is pretty long. We always get at least one snow in May, believe it or not. I do want some plans for both hot and cold weather.

May I ask you to clarify something? Do you mean that 3 or more chickens is better than 2 due to the pecking order or vise versa?

Thank you so much! :-D

Good morning, and welcome to BYC. I, too, suggest an absolute minimum of 3. That way if something happens to one two remain as company for one another.

Ah, perfect. Thank you!

G’Day from down under higginj Welcome!

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

I note you mention you are from Santa Fe but if you include your general location on your profile, this will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa.

You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello.

BYC has a Learning Centre and also Topic of the Week articles which I have found to be a great resource and a one stop shop for questions which may have already been discussed within the BYC membership group. A few which may be of interest to you at this stage are:
Topic of the Week - Getting Started, Keeping Chickens
Topic of the week - Winter chicken keeping
Topic of the Week - Managing Expenses and Saving/Making Money Keeping Poultry

I recommend not having just two because sadly we do lose chickens along the way and if you lose one, you will be left with one very lonely chicken and may need to make a dash to buy her a friend, waive the recommended quarantine etc.

These two articles may also be helpful:
Pickin a Chicken
How Much Room Do Chickens Need

Best wishes and good luck!

If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

Wow, so much information! I am very excited to be here at BYC. So much knowledge. Thank you.

Howdy Happy to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
Love Santa Fe and surrounding area.

It's a beautiful state, that's for sure.

 

[higginj]

Thanks again everyone, I am very excited by the quick feedback and advice! So much for me to learn.

 

[drumstick diva]

Chickens are flock animals and do best with a buddy or two. The reasoning for 3 or more is - if you have just 2 and one dies, the survivor will be very lost without it. If can be difficult getting a replacement that will get along with the bird you have now.

If you get 3 or more you are less likely to have a sole survivor.

 

[higginj]

Chickens are flock animals and do best with a buddy or two. The reasoning for 3 or more is - if you have just 2 and one dies, the survivor will be very lost without it. If can be difficult getting a replacement that will get along with the bird you have now.

If you get 3 or more you are less likely to have a sole survivor.

Gotcha. Good. I wanted an excuse to have more chickens.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Wow, good points! In Santa Fe it doesn't really get past 95 degrees maybe for a week or two tops. In general, the summertime is rainy season, so keeping it dry might be a bigger concern. Our winter isn't severe, but it is pretty long. We always get at least one snow in May, believe it or not. I do want some plans for both hot and cold weather.

May I ask you to clarify something? Do you mean that 3 or more chickens is better than 2 due to the pecking order or vise versa?

Thank you so much! :-D


Ah, perfect. Thank you!


Wow, so much information! I am very excited to be here at BYC. So much knowledge. Thank you.


It's a beautiful state, that's for sure.

Yes I would suggest more than two if they will be cooped together. Also 3+ is better in case you suffer a loss to predators. Also please don't but a coop from Tractor Supply have one built or build one yourself you will get so much more mileage that way. In NM you can probably find cheap day labor on craigslist for less than one hundred a day to slap 300 dollars of materials together and have 8x the space and security of a 700 dollar TSC coop.

 

[higginj]

Yes I would suggest more than two if they will be cooped together. Also 3+ is better in case you suffer a loss to predators. Also please don't but a coop from Tractor Supply have one built or build one yourself you will get so much more mileage that way. In NM you can probably find cheap day labor on craigslist for less than one hundred a day to slap 300 dollars of materials together and have 8x the space and security of a 700 dollar TSC coop.

Good to know about Tractor Supply! I hadn't thought about hiring help, actually. Luckily, my father-in-law is a carpenter (he agreed to help me), and my husband and I are both somewhat handy (and own power tools) as well. I am looking up recycled material plans that include a lockable coop that's easy to clean and includes a covered run. When I am teaching throughout the year, my time will need to be managed very carefully, so I am figuring out the most time saving, safe and healthy design for the future ladies. I have a great dog run/gardening area in my back yard that I think would be fantastic for a secure coop. I will most definitely be customizing and building my coop. I'm trying to gather pallets and other discarded (but quality) materials for free or very cheap. I was looking at online coops, and they really don't suit my yard. :-\

 

[AllenK RGV]

Good to know about Tractor Supply! I hadn't thought about hiring help, actually. Luckily, my father-in-law is a carpenter (he agreed to help me), and my husband and I are both somewhat handy (and own power tools) as well. I am looking up recycled material plans that include a lockable coop that's easy to clean and includes a covered run. When I am teaching throughout the year, my time will need to be managed very carefully, so I am figuring out the most time saving, safe and healthy design for the future ladies. I have a great dog run/gardening area in my back yard that I think would be fantastic for a secure coop. I will most definitely be customizing and building my coop. I'm trying to gather pallets and other discarded (but quality) materials for free or very cheap. I was looking at online coops, and they really don't suit my yard. :-\

My coop is a reclaimed dog run dog house the doghouse was built on 4 foot centers so pallets bolted right in then I covered the exteriors in hardware cloth(my major expense. Still have yet to lose a bird so it is holding up fine. Mine is very airy and ventilated but if you click on my location you will see why. I pretty much live in a Miami climate except 10 days in winter.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Gotcha. Good. I wanted an excuse to have more chickens.

Well in that case tell your DH you need 5 to start! That is what the chickeneers tell you is best and 5 are just as difficult to raise as 3 plus you might only experience an 80% success ratio so you have to plan on some losses! Pasty Butt checks should get you to close to 100% success rates during their first 2 weeks of life. I would have lost a few if I wasn't doing that.

 

[N F C]

It's nice to have you here, best of luck with your coop build and upcoming flock!